of the Police will have surprised some people in the community.

But the appointment speaks well for the community and the commitment of the Government to appoint the best people for the job to senior positions.

While it is true that the appointment of the Police Commissioner lies with the Governor, in real political terms, a Commissioner cannot survive without the support of the Government, as Colin Coxall learned.

There may then have been some people who would have expected the Government to do the "politically correct'' thing and to appoint a black officer as Commissioner after two white non-Bermudians had led the service.

The fact that did not occur shows that the interview board appointed the person who in their view was best qualified for the job.

It may be that just as only the card-carrying anti-communist Richard Nixon could recognise China, so it may be that only the PLP could appoint Mr. Smith, a white Bermudian from an old "establishment'' family whose brother is an Opposition MP. If the United Bermuda Party had tried to make the same appointment, it probably would have been heavily criticised.

Having said that, there is a good deal of evidence that the Police Service could not have gone wrong with any of the four candidates in charge. Bermuda is lucky to have such strength in its senior ranks.

It is to be hoped that the four will be able to continue to work well together having been put through this process.

Certainly Mr. Smith and the rest of the team have a lot to do. While the process of reforming the Police Service has come a long way since the mid-1990s, it still has some way to go, as the recently released report Commission on Serious Crimes demonstrated.

In Mr. Smith and Deputy Commissioner George Jackson, the service has two relatively young leaders who have been trained in the most up to date policing techniques.

If a Policeman's lot is not a happy one, then a Commissioner's lot is downright miserable because 100 good decisions and actions can be undone by just one mistake. Given that, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jackson need and deserve the support of all their fellow officers and of the whole community as they work to ensure that Bermuda has a Police Service it can be proud of.